I do a lot of events, sometimes over several days, and they often involve a lot of travelling, or staying away from home. And although I capture a lot of people’s information, I feel that without an instant response from me, I lose about 60-80% of that initial interest in even a small delay between meeting them at an event and following up, regardless of if I call, text or email them.

What if there was a way to confirm that prize draw entry or send that ebook immediately while they are still at your stand?

And now you can, using one of these…

On the surface it looks like something you may have seen before – a Facebook messenger code. But it is actually linked to a sequence I designed for some leaflets that are being given out at an event. Feel free to take a look!

When someone scans it, it takes them straight to Facebook Messenger, and sends them a message where they can then interact with an automated sequence – a chatbot – to find out more about my products and business opportunity. Once someone has interacted with the chatbot, they then become subscribers on my Messenger bot, and I can then deliver content to them directly into their Messenger inbox!

Why would I want to do that?

Well, not only does it give that instant point of contact for a new lead, and instant interaction with me, studies have shown that Messenger Marketing gets a much higher open rate than email – even up to 80-90% of messages opened, compared with around 20% (or less) with email, and 7-10 times higher CTR (click through rates)! It builds the relationship straight away, and is delivered in such a way that is engaging and interactive, and gives them results. It doesn’t replace the personal touch, but it can be set up to deliver a series of targetted messages over days or weeks to nurture the leads, deliver quality content that they will read, and gently leads them through my sales funnel.

How would I use at an event?

Wouldn’t it be great if, at an event, this is what happened:

You have a photo frame displaying your specific messenger code (generated in a messenger bot programme – I use ManyChat). To enter your prize draw, all people need to do is to scan the code from Facebook Messenger, and they will get an instant message sent to them from you confirming their entry. Ask them for their email (which on the Pro version can trigger a sequence to add all this info to a spreadsheet or even email them the ebook from your email service provider!), and then the chatbot sends them your ebook, and then sends a message which starts their journey to discover about your company, your offering, can drive them towards sales, special offers, etc – the botworld is your oyster! With some forethought and strategy, every answer they give or choose within the bot can lead them to discovering new content that is relevant to them, and segmenting them for your future targetted marketing too.

ManyChat

ManyChat is a powerful chatbot programme, that has many free features. Using the Messenger Code is a feature on their Pro package, that starts at $10 a month for up to 500 subscribers. This is the programme I am using, and I am finding it very user friendly with great support communities. Find out more here https://manychat.com/

Things to remember when building your first Messenger bot

Keep it simple, but have a plan

Keep it chatty – this is messenger, people interact differently on there

Give them choices – think of their journey as the experience you are giving them

Remind them they can unsubscribe at any time by typing “STOP”

Keep them engaged by delivering snippets of great info

Don’t break the 24-1 rule – this rule means that you cannot send a promotional message to them if you have not interacted with them for 24 or more hours, so always make sure you strike up the conversation again with a message that could count as a subsequent opt-in message before sending your offer out.